Barbara Butler Artist Builder

Many beautiful colors on the Hideaway Fort

2011-08-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

We love the colors on this Hideaway Fort so much that we had to share the staining process with you. Here's Rudi, our master stainer, mixing the colors and then applying the stain to the modular pieces as they come over from the building bay:

It all starts with the client selecting the colors that they like. Using color pencils, Barbara distributes their colors on a sketch she has drawn of their structure. She may present 2 to 3 different color schemes. The client chooses the one that is perfect!

Once the color palette is set, Rudi mixes the colors, then starts staining:

Staining ends with parts on the drying racks and large pieces baking in the sun!

Boy Scouts make garden signs from donated redwood

2011-08-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

When Mitch Sr. asked Barbara if she had any redwood scrapes to donate to his son's Boy Scout Troop, the answer was YES!

The troop was working on a community garden service project (for badges) at Stanton Elementary in Castro Valley, making 10 informative signs.

The teacher who runs the garden had a vision to turn a weedy hillside into an outdoor classroom, putting bricks in to honor all those who donated.
We received an excellent thank you note from Mitch Jr:

Hello Ms.Butler: my name is Mitch and I am a Boy Scout in Troop 726. I recently finished my Life Project in my road to Eagle. My project was to build 10 similar signs out of wood for the Stanton Elementary Garden. I could not have done this project without your generous donation of redwood supply for creating my signs. I believe that the Stanton Elementary Community will be very pleased with the signs I have made with your wood. In conclusion, THANK YOU for your wood for my project.Sincerely, Mitch, 14, Scout Troop 726

Re-staining the playhouse

2011-08-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

11 years ago, Barbara made a beautiful Garden Playhouse for her niece, Melissa, and her adorable daughter, Lindsea, then only 2 years old.

Lindsea and her parents lived north of Seattle in a cute little town where it rained a lot! Over the years, the playhouse got a lot of use with play dates, birthday parties and just fun alone time in the back yard making cakes & mud pies, reading stories and playing princess.

Slowly the colors faded but no one really noticed. It was still their much-loved playhouse.

Then one day this summer, Barbara got a call - "send me some stains. Lindsea and I want to do a mother-daughter project this summer. We've decided to re-stain her playhouse!"

We gathered up the stain colors and shipped them to Melissa. Along with the stains, we sent clear tung-oil to apply as the final coat, plus brushes, sponges, plastic gloves, gojo wipes and detailed maintenance instructions.

It didn't take long! 1st sunny weekend day Lindsea (now just turned 13 years old) and her mom hit the backyard to re-do their playhouse.

First the walls in Castle Purple,
then the trims and shutters and carvings.

Followed by the roof and, voilà, the playhouse was beautiful again!

Lindsea, Jack (her Russell Terrior) and Melissa love the results.

And, they had a blast re-doing the playhouse, even changing some of the colors along the way.

Job well done!

Well used & well-loved Hideaway Fort passed on to a new family

2011-07-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Our story of our Barbara Butler Hideaway Fort and how we came to own it... from 2003 thru 2011:

It was 2002. My husband and I were strolling thru the S.F. Garden Show, then held at Fort Mason, San Francisco. I had recently seen a reference to Barbara's work in a magazine and suddenly there was a play structure in the middle of the show Marketplace... yes, it was a Barbara Butler Hideaway Fort. We looked, talked with the gang and continued on.

No sooner than 2 months later a large oak tree fell on our little play structure which had been tucked away in the corner of our yard. At the same time, we were moving to a new property in sunny Emerald Hills and decided that we would replace the damaged unit with that same item displayed at the show we had come upon a couple months back.

Jeff came to our house, spent an entire day digging, drilling and installing the Hideaway Fort with the world's best slide ever... even for adults. My son and daughter loved climbing the wall, going down that slide over and over and crawling thru the secret door, not to mention the endless imaginary pieces of mail passed thru the slot marked "MAIL" next to the door.

Time went on and we had Barbara design an additional swing feature and a chin up bar for swinging, hoisting and whatever. We even braved their meticulous techniques and added on a glider ourselves, true to the B.Butler construction and staining methods. Many games, parties and time passed on this thing... and our yard always had the beauty of a well designed and crafted play fort gracing the garden and grounds.

In 2008, we moved again, brought it along, refinished the surface to its original glory (see image, above) and once again the games and climbing started over, this time adjacent to a soaring stand of redwoods in the hills of Woodside, CA.

Now it is May, 2011 and I am sad, yet thrilled at the same time, to be passing our beloved fort along to a new family in Los Altos, CA. There, 3 young boys will have never-ending fun on one of Barbara's creations.

We will miss our Hideaway Fort yet smile as we know it will continue to bring fun and wonder to another yard and family.

Kerri Linden

Atherton Treehouse

2011-06-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Atherton Treehouse: The goal was to design a play structure that incorporated the trees, tucked into this corner of the yard, that wouldn't overwhelm but would be big enough for the many grandchildren that visit every year.

Barbara's "stickout" (above) and Artist's Sketch (below) shows the ultimate design the client's settled on: King Fort up front, bridge to the back, passing by the sapling, up to the Clubhouse perched on a tree deck 9' off the ground, with steps down to a Zip Line ride "take-off" platform.

Swinging Bridge leading up to the Tree Perch...

Great Zip Line Ride:

fun for grandchildren and grandfathers!

Detailing a Robin Hoods Fort

2011-01-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

Luscious browns and blues with touches of curry make a tasty color palette for this Robin Hood's Fort with 9' long bridge (soon to have 2 swings attached underneath).

The guys are "detailing". This is the stage in our process where we erect the structure and bolt it together to make sure that every modular piece fits perfectly.

Then we add:

- swing hangers & monkey bars under the bridge,

- rock holds to the back wall

- play accessories and more...

In this picture Jose is adding the side shutters to the Fort and Marco is just coming in from the metal shop where he was welding. We make many of our own metal parts, such as the special metal sleeves that wrap around the "footing" ends of every post that will be sunk into concrete, 2' below grade.

Santa's workshop: contemporary shapes and colors

2011-01-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

It's starting to get exciting as more shapes emerge! The towers are long and sleek, looking like a rocket ship about to launch.

Adding the side "fins" (which will flank the entrance to the swinging bridge) starts to define the contemporary look of this play structure.

Once building is complete, the tower moves to the staining bay where Rudi adds the color.

Then the finished tower is moved to the outside dock to bake in the sun. This complicated black & white pattern will require a longer drying time than usual. We do not want to drag any black into white when we wipe-on the final coat of clear tung-oil.

Fortunately for us, this is California, and we are enjoying a particularly lovely stretch of warm, sunny weather. Our condolences to the East Coast, where winter storms are still dumping tons of snow on a daily basis.

A blue play structure for a green space

2011-01-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

I was looking through old boxes of photos the other day and came across this lovely image. Designed and built in 2004, this play structure looks vibrant and inviting in the far corner of this elegant, tranquil garden. Barbara likes to work with Landscape Design professionals to find fun ways to invite children into the garden spaces.

Santa's workshop continues

2011-01-21T18:26:00.001-08:00

This view from Barbara's "tree house" office window shows the progress being made on this modern, abstract castle design.

2010-12-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Barbara's new Kids Treehouse book, a beautiful photo essay of her unique treehouses, is now available for sale through Blurb.com. To preview the first 15 pages, click here.

This hardcover book has 45 pages of 70 treehouse images - a wonderful collection of some of Barbara's most unique children's treehouses, tree forts and zip line rides!

Santa's workshop

2010-12-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! December's main project at the studio is a modern abstract castle design. The 4x4 framing will be covered with siding and with several of the openings on each side sheathed with plexiglass. The inside of the framing will remain visible. The deck will be up in the air 7' high.

Marco has great patience for all the angles!

Above, Suzy shows off in the back corner.

The cold weather brought out the Christmas Elf in me!
Happy Holidays!
more as we go....
cheers,
Barbara

Public Use Play Structure: Day 5 & 6 on site

2010-09-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Day 5 on site at the Contra Costa Jewish Day School and great progress! The Tube Slide has been installed and the rubber resilient surface material (RSM) has been poured by Playgrounds Unlimited.
Here, Sean from playgrounds Unlimited, checks to make sure that the RSM is 2-1/2" thick, the required thickness to help prevent serious injuries from a 6' fall height.

Now that the beautiful redwood structures have been installed, it is time to start lashing the "miles" of rope netting over all open areas of the play structure. When done, the entire structure will be fully enclosed so that no child can play outside of the structure once they start up the stairs!

Even the roofs are covered with rope netting to prevent adventurous kids from climbing up and out.

Barbara and Jeff go first, tightly attaching the netting to the posts using plastic twist ties (to be removed later). Then, Marco, Jose & Luis come next and lash the netting to the posts with rope, tying special knots every few inches to make sure it will not come undone. Attaching, lashing & knotting is very time consuming - it takes strong hands and willing hearts! The crew will still be at it on Monday. We hope to finish by the end of day tomorrow!!!

Meanwhile, under the shade tent, Barbara and MaryLou work on completing the complicated Certification paperwork.

By end of day Saturday, a good deal of the rope netting has been completed. More to come on Monday!

Robin Hoods Fort 1 Swing in classic colors

2010-09-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we installed our classic Robin Hoods Fort with 3' long bridge over 1 swing. It fits beautifully into a small backyards. This installation is almost complete: Jeff will return the following day to remove the bracing (which keeps the bridge level while the concrete footings set overnight).

Barbara's Artist Sketch in the color palette chosen by the client is an exact match.

The Robin Hood's fort offers plenty of challenging play activities: hand-woven rope net ladder, turbo tube slide, rock climbing wall, firepole and swing underneath the bridge.

The outside colors are cool and natural while the inside colors "pop"! This fort has one of Barbara's favorite play accessories: drop leaf table (under the shuttered window) & drop seat.

To check out our many different Robin Hoods Forts click here.

Synopsis of Rugged Ruckus Big Fort

2010-09-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek at one of Barbara's latest projects, from start to finish:

Barbara started with a design sketch that combined rustic tree stumps & limbs with rugged construction to create a rough & tumble outdoor play structure.

Early on in the process, Barbara & Jeff went on site to choose logs to be cut into stump steps and limbs to be used as "pickets" for the railings.

Next, Barbara & Jeff did their traditional "stick-out", making sure the structure would fit within the boundaries of the play area.

Once the final design was approved, construction started. The exterior was stained with a "natural wash" so that the structure would blend into the surroundings.

The interior, however, really POPS with Wild Orange walls, Russet floor, Parakeet doors and shutters with Parsley trims and Red Earth Drop Leaf Table & 2 drop seats. Oh, and the ceiling is Cape Cod Blue!

Barbara and Jeff spent lots of time checking out the play structure during the detailing process and, inspired by Rugged Ruckus, took time out to create a little ruckus themselves...

Meanwhile, out on the dock were lots of tree limbs and branches. Marco is lead on selecting,

cutting, grinding to shape and then...

attaching the sturdy branches to complete the railings.
Each opening is tested with the white "Safety Probe". If it goes through, then the opening is too large and too dangerous for young children.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle but Marco likes doing it and he's good at it! Almost done and proud of his work.

Install was scheduled to start in a week so the guys were hurrying to finish the Public Use Play Structure in Lafayette. Plus Jeff and Aubrey had to break away to deliver the Garden Potpourri playhouse to the Coyote Point Museum for auction that evening. We were stretched thin!

Once again, everything went great and we finished in time. The play structure is a huge success with parents and kids. We love the natural look and the fun log climb. Hope you do too:

Pasadena Playhouse

2010-09-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be nice to take a few minutes and share a custom play structure installation we finished over a year ago. When I came across these photos, it made me smile!

We had a great installation in Pasadena. Meet the crew:

James getting ready to install the coil climber; Marco on the Glider swing; Will laughing in front of the table/chairs set; Jose Luis on top of the Rope Net Ladder; Frenchy in the sandbox tower, and Javier, who just finished tung-oiling!

Perfect weather, tons of work, lots of Corona at night. And the trip back home was fun too!

Public Use Play Structure: Day 4 on site

2010-09-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Big Day on site: the crawl tunnel tube is added in between Clubhouse #1 and Clubhouse #2! They will keep it wrapped in plastic sheeting until everything else on site is done, but this fun play element is in place and just waiting for kids to crawl through it.

Next the guys move over to the Slide Transfer Platform and add the railings and the roof. Almost ready for the Tube Slide.

Then a day full of drilling in the hot sun...

More to come tomorrow

Public Use Play Structure: Day 3 on site

2010-09-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

Barbara and crew are back on site at the Contra Costa Jewish Day School playground where they are installing a public use, fully enclosed, ADA Handicap Accessible play structure custom designed to run above the playground on top of existing 8' high concrete planters (as shown in Barbara's Artist Sketch):

By mid-morning of Day 3, all 3 clubhouses have been erected and bolted to the floor frames and 2 of the 3 roofs have been added. Jose and Armando are working on adding the angled "step down" platform on the left side of the structure. This is where the kids will exit to the playground area below via a long tube slide.

The 3rd roof goes up while Jeff, below, uses the epoxy gun as the final step in securing the 4 redwood support posts to the concrete.

Next step is to raise the front and back 12' long railings for the straight bridge:

Tomorrow: the crawl tube tunnel!

Public Use Play Structure: Day 2 on site

2010-09-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Day 2 the crew continues with the installation of Contra Costa Jewish Day School's play structure:
Now that the ledgers have been installed (see Day 1) the guys bring in the clubhouse floor framing, bolting the frames to the ledgers.

Next, they add stairs and angled Ship's Ladder ramp on the right side of the playground. This combined stair/ramp system will provide access to the "soon to be" play structure up on top of the concrete planters. The stairs, like the clubhouse floor framing, were pre-built at our shop to exact measurements, fitting to the curve of the wall.

The 12' high redwood frame in front of the stairs will become the "ball wall", to be brought in at the end of the project.

Next, the crew adds the series of 3 Clubhouses to the top of the concrete planters, bolting everything to the previously installed floor frames.

At this point, the structure is really starting to take shape: stairs up to angled ramp, then up to Clubhouse #1. Lots still to be done.

One last addition at end of the day: the guys bring up the roof frames and attach them to the top of the Clubhouses.

Public Use Play Structure: Day 1 on site

2010-09-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

The day before we arrive, the school yard sits empty, waiting for the magic to begin...

Immediately upon arrival, we unload and set up our equipment so that we can begin the first step: set the spacer boxes (pre-built in our shop) on top of the concrete planters, establishing that everything fits. Then we start attaching the ledgers to the existing retaining walls. A critical 1st step!

We have to get the ledgers (which you don't see once installed as they sit flush to the top of the planter wall) at the right height and in the right placement so our pre-built structure will reassemble correctly.
Once in place, we drill the concrete for the threaded rod that will be epoxied into the wall.

There was a lot of hot sun and it was persnickety work, but the crew did a great job getting everything ready for setting the threaded rod in epoxy. Marco & Jeff both have a lot of experience doing this type of work and Aubrey was their willing apprentice.

Aubrey seemed to like using the hammerdrill :) There's Jeff's in the background below diligently cleaning the drilled holes in preparation for the epoxy. That's the key to using epoxy to bolt the ledger to the concrete walls: super clean holes.

More install pictures tomorrow!

Garden Potpourri: Josie visits her old/now new playhouse

2010-09-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Garden Potpourri Playhouse will be auctioned 9/24/10.
All proceeds to benefit Coyote Point Museum.

Josie (almost 16 years old now) stopped by our shop last Sunday with her mom, Michelle, to visit her old Garden Playhouse. Josie enjoyed her Barbara Butler Garden Playhouse from age 3 to 15 and then decided to donate it to help raise money for a good cause. Barbara collaborated by throwing her skills at refurbishing and re-creating the playhouse, using reclaimed materials.

Josie and her mom loved the new playhouse and almost want to buy it back at auction! Instead, they hope that a wonderful family with small children will fall in love with Garden Potpourri and bid to buy at the auction this coming Friday.

For more information about how to purchase tickets to attend the "Tinkering by Twilight" fund raising event, go to www.coyoteptmuseum.org

To see more images of Garden Potpourri playhouse, click here!

Public Use Play Structure for CCJDS in Lafayette, CA

2010-09-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

New, exciting, public use play structure that Barbara custom-designed for the Contra Costa Jewish Day School in Lafayette, CA. It will be a fully enclosed, self-contained redwood & rope netting play structure built up on top of 8' high concrete planter boxes and running along the edge of the play space.

Access up (on right) via the steps enclosed by the "Ball Wall" then up the angled ship's ladder, through clubhouse #1, through the crawl tunnel, through the clubhouse #2, through the rope net bridge, through Clubhouse #3 and down the tunnel tube slide (on left) out onto the open playground. Plenty of activity while only using a minimal amount of current playground space.

Building started back in the shop as soon as Barbara was able to get the variance and permit sign offs. For this complicated design it takes a lot of conferring with the whole team.

Marco, an exceptional builder, makes the curved steps that have to conform exactly to the concrete wall when we bring it to site.

Tricky!

As soon as pieces are built they go to the staining bay, where Rudi adds the natural tung-oil stain colors. Then everything is set outside to dry in the sun. Time is off the essence as there is only 2 weeks to build, stain and pre-assemble! Normally, this size project would take up 4 weeks of our schedule. We are on double-time...

Fortunately, Rudi, our master stainer, has the experience, fortitude and know-how to get it all done.

As soon as the stained pieces are dry, the guys start to pre-assemble the play structure in our shop to make sure that everything fits together perfectly. Our motto is that it's better to find & fix any problems in the shop then when on site. Everything is geared for the on-site installation to run quickly and smoothly... and because of their diligence, it usually does!

Stay tuned for pictures from site.

Garden Potpourri: Barbara Butler playhouse to be auctioned

2010-09-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Join us at the September 24th fund raising event for Coyote Point Museum!

Barbara's "Garden Potpourri" playhouse, made from 100% reclaimed materials, will be auctioned to highest bidder!

A few months ago, Coyote Point Museum sent a request asking if we would create/donate a playhouse made from re-claimed or re-purposed materials for their Tinkering by Twilight fund raising event. It was an exciting idea!

Around the same time, Barbara was contacted by former client, Michelle Furbershaw, who wanted to sell or donate her daughter, Josie's, Garden Playhouse. Barbara had made Josie's playhouse back in 1999 when she was 4 years old. After 11 loving years of use, Josie was no longer using the playhouse and it was sitting empty in the backyard.

It was a timely combination of events!

Josie and her mom decided to donate their playhouse which Barbara would then clean, repair, refurbish and enhance to create a new structure for the auction, to be purchased and enjoyed for another 11 years by a new family, and raise funds for a good cause. Recycling at it's creative best!

Garden Potpourri playhouse was created by adding a large front deck with steps up and a rung ladder out the cafe doors at the back. The railings are made from extra unused shutters gathered from different playhouses and a couple of abandoned ship's wheels. The skirting comes from all the left-over stained pieces of redwood saved and stored over the years but never used. Special touches were added such as the Top Secret Safe under the playhouse and step railings made from old stain sticks.

Here is the Garden Potpourri playhouse drying on our dock after a final coat of tung-oil.

DONATION/AUCTION INFORMATION:

All proceeds donated to:
Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo, CA
a non-profit organization for Environmental Education
Auction info:
Tinkering by Twilight gala event
on September 24, 2010
www.coyoteptmuseum.org

PLUS, other playhouses and animal habitats created by teams of designers, contractors, builders & suppliers will also be auctioned at this event. Children's playhouses & animal habitats will be an exciting and unique part of the live and silent auctions!

For more information, click here to go to the Coyote Point Museum website, or click here to go to our website.

Robin Hoods Fort with 2 swings

2010-09-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Barbara's "pre-designed" Robin Hood's Fort is popular for good reasons: lot's of play activities, choose how many swings (1, 2 or 3), add features like a roof, choose your style of railing (rope or wood), pick the configuration that works best for your yard (how about the rock wall on the front?) and choose your own colors!

The finished play structure looks exactly like the drawing Barbara does ahead of time.

Crooked Gap Clubhouse installation

2010-08-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

Crooked Gap Clubhouse starts out in the design phase with Barbara's sketch:

During the initial design process, Barbara, Jeff & Marco spend a day doing a "stick-out" on site, using rough strips of wood to layout the shape of the Clubhouse on the hillside.
Then later, after building, staining & detailing the structure in our shop, we bring in the pieces to install. The deck goes in 1st, matching the original stick out to a "T".

On this site, the truck is parked below and every play structure piece, along with all tools and materials, are lugged up the hill!

The Gable roof is in 2 pieces, and like everything else, has to come up the hill, across the bridge

and then up into place.

The crew, happy but weary at the end of the day from a job well done.

Crooked Gap Clubhouse clings to side of the hill

2010-08-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Crooked Gap Clubhouse is custom designed to fit on the side of a very challenging hill. The entrance ramp let's kids walk across to the Clubhouse deck which is perched on the hillside.

The Clubhouse is built in our shop in modular pieces then pre-assembled for detailing and fit.
Once stained, the Clubhouse walls are laid out in the sunshine to dry.

At night, all the parts are stacked inside the staining bay along the walls.

Here's a sneak peak at the final play structure, delivered and installed. A great place for the kids to play!

Used Hideaway Fort for sale: Deal of the Century!

2010-07-18T17:22:00.001-07:00

We just had to bring this to your attention.

This gently used Hideaway Fort is "For Sale by Owner" on our web site for the incredibly low price of $2,500.
Located in Davis, CA it is just waiting for it's new home. You will have to transport and re-assemble (or you can hire us to do it). Well worth it - the cost is over $12,000 new!
For inquiries, email julielkuo@gmail.com
For more details, click here

Verde Tree Fort: sneak preview

2010-07-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Barbara and crew finished installing this tree fort in May but we haven't had time to post it to our website yet. So here is a sneak preview of Verde Tree Fort: all combinations of green on the outside...

and with bright, hot, luscious colors on the inside:

The long staircase up makes it easy for young kids (and adults) to get to the upper levels. Then a long bridge leads to the deck wrapped around the giant tree. Lots of the play features are on the backside: rock climbing wall, firepole, rope net ladder and slide.

Underneath the bridge and the deck there is more action: swings, monkey bars, trapeze bar, parallel rings, etc. Barbara adds short rung ladders underneath (below the fort window & at the other end of the bridge) so kids have a way up to the fun stuff attached under the deck.

And up on top, there's the tree...

Cozy Cabin Playhouse finished

2010-07-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

The Cozy Cabin is our smallest playhouse: perfectly sized for kids ages 1 to 5 years old. It will fit in a corner, on a deck, inside a play room or in the middle of a garden! Young children love to go inside, close the door, open the shutters, slide the "peek-a-boo", put mail in the mail slot, peek through the cut-outs and then invite you in. It is exactly right for their size.

While we are building the playhouse, Barbara works with the client on creating the color palette:

This beautiful color palette reflects the colors of the garden:

Because this Cozy Cabin was installed on a slight slope, we secured it with 2 front footings, hidden by the extra skirting on the front.

No playhouse is complete without the sound of laughter coming from the adorable kids that really own it!

Painting on photos

2010-07-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a new design I'm hoping to build. I use the caveman program PAINT to draw my ideas right on the photo. I like the restrictions of the Paint program - not very many choices, can only undo about 7 steps, makes me feel like a kid!

Here's one where I got James to climb up in the tree and pose for me!

This one I got carried away and put James in twice...

Brighten up your redwood play set!

2010-07-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

Every spring & summer, when there are "holes" in our build/install schedule, our crew goes out and refurbishes some older ones. It is amazing how resilient redwood is. Even if left for years to fade and dry out in the sun, it will spring back to life and look glorious again with one good cleaning, re-staining and tung-oiling.

Here's a "refurbish" job our crew tackled last week. It came out great!
Before...

Definitely after!!!

Barbara's Tree Houses featured in Hamptons Magazine

2010-07-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Barbara's tree houses were featured in the Insight page of the July Real Estate & Design issue of Hamptons Magazine.

The article featured an image her East Hampton Treehouse, designed and built in 2007 and referenced her newest tree house, The Long Island Treehouse, just built and installed in Southampton two months ago.

Barbara actually has 3 great tree houses in the Hamptons. To see images, click on the names below:
- East Hampton Treehouse
- Southampton Treehouse
- The Long Island Tree House

Zip Lines!

2010-07-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

We've done tons of ziplines and I never get tired of them! Each one presents a different challenge because the trees, the distance and the slope are always different. My ideal backyard zip line ride goes between two trees and involves jumping off of a tree perch to start the ride.
Here's the process on one we did recently. Jeff Beal (my partner in work and love) and I usually scope out the yard together, selecting the best trees for the zipline ride. When we narrow it down to one spot, we then set up a temporary zip line ride to make sure it will really work.

We both ride it many many times, adjusting it to come up with a fast fun and super safe ride. The temporary set up also lets me design the take-off tree perch.

A bit of quick photo shop and then I paint right on the photo. That way the family can get an idea of what I want to build! While I work on the tree perch, Jeff concentrates on installing the zipline. We use heavy-duty rescue-grade cable and trolleys so that adults as well as kids can ride the zipline. Here's the perch almost done.

We did a similar zipline & perch in LA. I like how simple and sturdy this design is.

This zip line ride is fairly short but it's thrilling! We've done zipline as short as 40 feet and as long as long as 160 feet. Here's a link to a video of Jeff and I doing the test zipline for this project: http://vimeo.com/13233381

More on ziplines next week!

Rustic Tree Fort getting started

2010-07-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Plans have been approved for me to start building a Rustic Treefort, using old logs as well as our usual redwood lumber. Here's my sketch of what we'll be making:

My brother James & I also worked up a detailed AutoCAD site plan to compliment the sketch. That let's me verify that everything will fit.

Now James & I will start the detailed construction drawings to give to the builders, plus I have to gather some more logs for the railings.

Castle Play Structure: final day of installation

2010-07-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

Castle Play Structure: Final Day

The crew returned on Friday to finish the details, pack up all of our tools & materials, and apply a final coat of tung-oil to the play structure. We were right on schedule and just in time - the client was having a huge party with 150 guests on Saturday to celebrate the 4th of July.

25 yards of bark chip will be spread under and around the play structure, at 8" depth, as soon as we leave. The bark chip is an essential safety feature and is the single most effective way to prevent serious injuries.

Happy 4th of July!

Fun Interview of Barbara Butler by the San Francisco Chronicle

2010-07-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Check out Barbara Butler in the San Francisco Chronicle's "Sunday Magazine" issue on July 4th! The story can also be seen on-line.

According to writer/author Sam Whiting:
"If in need of a tree house, you can climb up and try to build it, at risk of killing either yourself or the tree, leaving the job unfinished and blighting the yard. Or you can call Barbara Butler, who will get the job done in a week flat."

Barbara answers questions about her job description, clientele, staff, prices, production, home and more.

Castle Play Structure: Day 3 Install

2010-07-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Raising the Roofs: On Day 3 of the Castle Play Structure installation, the crew raises the big 2-piece Gable Roof on the Clubhouse and the smaller 1-piece Gable Roof on the Princess Tower. It takes strength, agility and team work to put a roof up on a 2-story play set. Barbara, the overseer (and also referred to as the "clucker") documented the process with her camera while keeping watch and making sure all went safely & smoothly.

The BIG redwood gable roof goes up first:

One side up and looking good...

Bringing up the 2nd piece:

Perfect!

Once the pieces are bolted together and the seam is caulked, then a decorative cap piece will be installed to further help shed the water.

The smaller 1-piece gable roof for the Princess Tower goes up last:

Also perfect!
Barbara's modular system makes even a large, complicated installation flow smoothly & quickly. Most installations are completed within 4 to 5 days.
Next, the 9' long bridge over 2 swings...

2010-07-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

Back at the shop, Rudi is also working on adding color to the Cozy Cabin, our next project.

Here he has just finished staining the Universe "cut-outs" on the back wall (star, moon & planet) and has cut around the carvings with the wall color.

Next Rudi uses a sponge brush to wipe on the exterior wall color.

To the right are 2 of the interior walls, already stained & drying.

Daisy continues to wait patiently for Barbara & Jeff to return from site.

3 out of 4 walls are done and left leaning against the shop wall cabinets to dry. Tomorrow, Rudi will stain the front wall with the kitty cat and tulip carvings.

Stay tuned for more Castle Play Structure installation images that Barbara will bring back with her tonight!

Pirate's cupboard

2010-07-01T13:52:00.001-07:00

Barbara forgot to download the site images from yesterday's install, so here are a couple of shop pictures instead.

The client had a last minute request for a Pirate's Wall Cupboard with "crossed swords".

Rudi hand draws the crossed swords in pencil.

Then Rudi stains the swords white.

Let's the white stain dry.

Then stains the cupboard doors red and lets them dry (on the rack next to the mailbox).

They are going to look great when hung on the Clubhouse wall inside the black cabinet casing.

Meanwhile, Daisy keeps lookout for Barbara and Jeff to return from site.

Castle Play Structure: Day 2 Installation

2010-06-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Back on site early the next morning the crew enjoys the beautiful view, then gets to work adding the corner Slide Deck to the Big Deck. Barbara is standing up the hill, amongst the trees, to take this photo:

The open slide shoots off the corner deck, providing a quick way down for the kids.

Next, the guys finish adding the very long footing posts to the Slide Deck: insert through the deck into the post holes (dug yesterday), level, bolt and then on to the next thing...

Which is bringing up the Princess Tower wall panels. This site has a very long, winding hill to the top, which makes everyone darn tired by the end of the day.

Digging again? This time it's post holes for the Princess Tower.

Once the holes are dug: lay the floors, insert the posts and raise the walls.
The inside of Barbara's play structures are always stained in the colors of choice. In this case: Rose walls, Sunflower trims & Autumn curved-top shutters.

The back wall of the Princess Tower has rock holds - the interior wall shows the battens we add to provide extra strength behind each rock hold. Everything on a Barbara Butler play structure is about safety, strength and beauty.

Each wall comes to site as one complete panel, with the doors and shutters already hung.

Voila! At end of day the Princess Tower is almost complete.

Tomorrow: raise the Clubhouse, add the Bridge???

Stay Tuned.

Castle Play Structure: Day 1 Installation

2010-06-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Castle Play Structure: Everything is built and the site is ready!
Barbara does a quick layout inside the newly graded space to verify that the play structure, with appropriate Use Zone, will still fit.

Installation Day1: Monday is a hot, sunny day. Things heat up quickly when carrying all the play structure pieces, equipment and tools up a long, windy steep slope to the site.

The guys store everything in a barn near by.

1st step is to set up shade tent for the week.

Next step is to set up the scaffolding that will hold the big deck up in the air.

Then get out the post hole digging tools because there are a lot of holes to be dug!

This is very rocky soil so we use a variety of instruments: the 2-man auger (Marco & Armando), the demo hammer (Aubrey) and the rock bar (Jeff) plus post hole diggers, shovels, and lots of grit & determination.

Once the holes are dug, the guys install the posts
making sure that everything is level.

Then the knee braces go up

surrounding the big deck in half-moon curves of brilliant magenta.

Barbara is happy with the progress. All pictures, by the way, are taken by Barbara (which is why she doesn't show up in any). But she is there, making sure everything goes smoothly and correctly.

Today was all the structural stuff - hard, dusty work and it still looks chaotic. But tomorrow, things get really interesting. Stay tuned.

Empty Shop - crew's on site!

2010-06-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Barbara Butler crew of Play Professionals packed up the truck this morning and drove to site. Hot, hot day for carting heavy pieces up a hill and digging post holes- pics tomorrow!

Meanwhile, the shop is empty. It's like a ghost town when the crew is gone. Just the rattling of the overhead doors and the birds chirping in the rafters - noises we usually don't hear when the saws are buzzing.

Just the little Gable Roof for the Cozy Cabin playhouse (next project) sitting by it's lonesome in the building bay...

Along with the front wall of the Cozy Cabin, already built. All the carvings have been "chalked" on - just waiting for someone to hand-carve the images onto the redwood.

We did get a shipment of slides today, which helps to fill up the Detailing bay. The bridge walls for Castle Play Structure were left behind - probably going out tomorrow.

Same with the giant Rope Net Ladder - Armando will finish weaving the netting and then it too will go to site.

Besides us shop gals and Daisy, Rudi is the only one left. He is staining the Cozy Cabin inside walls today and has laid out the roof stars to dry.

Castle Play Structure - last minute play set details

2010-06-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

The entire Play Set will be packed up Monday morning and transported to site for installation. The end of this past week was all about the details:

Aubrey adds professional Rock Climbing Holds to the Princess Tower walls:

Marco hangs doors and shutters & glues the long screws into the door knobs (extra secure) before screwing the knobs to the shutters:

Then Marco "details" the Kitchen play set. Here he is working on the Sink/Stove cabinet and will finish the matching Refrigerator later...

Then works on hinging the Drop Leaf Table & 2 Drop Seats that will be added to the Princess Tower interior:

Meanwhile, Jeff is putting together the Double Water Cannon: this custom water gun rotates & swivels, spraying a stream of water up to 30' off the bridge.

Rudi stains the long footing posts for the Clubhouse deck (2 color combination) while the other footing posts dry next to the lumber racks:

Then Rudi finishes staining all the bright & shinny details: finial tops, stars for the roof, and the burners for the stove top play accessory:

Back in the building bay, Jose puts together the Big Deck to test fit.

Monday morning, everything has to get loaded into the truck!

Tree house & play structure family business

2010-06-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! Barbara likes to start her day with a cup of coffee from Atlas, favorite cafe in the San Francisco Mission district.
Followed by a hug with husband Jeff while discussing business...
Married over 18 years, they still love to work, live & play together.

Barbara's nephew, Tym, gave her a bike last night. Tym likes to tinker on old bikes, fixing them up and releasing them back into the world to be used again. Later in the day, Barbara finds time at work to try it out on the walking/bike path near the shop. Next time, Daisy & Jeff are going with her!

Rudi passed his interview for citizenship!

2010-06-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Good news. Rudi came in this morning and announced that he passed the interview. He has been "recommended for approval".
Now he is just waiting to receive notification of the final decision and then he will be sworn in at the ceremony to become a US citizen.

Congratulations Rudi!

Marco is bringing over the kitchen sink!

He's about to start detailing the Kitchen Set which includes a refrigerator, sink and stove. Just needs to add doors, burners, stainless steel bowl & faucets, oven racks, etc. and it will be ready for staining...

Meantime, Ember (sister & guest artist) is helping out by staining the knee braces that will go under the Big Deck.

And Aubrey (nephew and newest crew member) finally gets a chance to do something other than grind redwood lumber smooth, which is apparently cause for a smile.

He's looking forward to Monday when the crew goes on site to install - that's his favorite part of this process!

Barbara and Ember take time out for lunch. The South San Francisco fog has moved in so its cold outside - lunch is in the office today!

Oops - Aubrey is back on grinding.
Armando is using a template to draw the carving line around the "who-goes-there" on the upper Dutch door. And Marco is building the rung ladder.

While Jose is applying the 1st coat of clear, protective tung-oil to all the finished, thoroughly dry parts.

And anything not yet dry is put out on the dock in the drying racks.

Barbara's back from the LI Treehouse install

2010-06-24T11:54:00.001-07:00

After a week on site installing the Long Island treehouse, this is Barbara's 1st day back at the shop.

1st order of business is to walk her dog, Daisy, who is really happy to have Barbara back! Daisy (a rescue from the Ridgeback society) is half Rhodesian Ridgeback and half unknown - maybe German Shepard.

Barbara's dressed in magenta & red, with a touch of orange - one of her favorite color combinations! She also likes blue jeans and red cowboy boots.

Next, a walk through the shop to check out the progress on our next adventure: Castle Play Structure.

Wall panels for the Princess Tower are in the staining bay. Rudi has just finished this panel and it is ready for some drying time.

Turns out that Rudi will be taking tomorrow off for an important appointment: his interview to become a citizen of the United States of America!

Rudi, who was born in Amsterdam, has lived in the US for over 20 years. This is a momentous occasion - he has studied long and hard for the test. Barbara is helping out by asking Rudi some US history questions . Rudi is giving her the names of the 3 branches of the government. Do you know them?

Then on to conferring with Marco about the status of the play structure. Marco is working on the play accessories for inside the Princess Tower.

Back in the office, Barbara is taking a call from a client. When I looked over from my desk, I just loved the red boots and couldn't resist this shot.

Castle Play Structure: building in the shop

2010-06-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Remember Castle Play Structure? While Barbara and crew were in Southampton last week installing the Long Island Treehouse, the guys were back at the shop in South San Francisco building this large, intricate Castle Play Structure.

The Clubhouse with Big Deck and 9' long Bridge (left side) were almost finished last week . This week we will build, carve and stain the smaller Princess Tower (right side).

Start of day: Jose and Armando set up the Princess Tower walls that were rough constructed on Friday. This initial "set-up" is to make sure everything fits together perfectly!

Once the "fit" is confirmed, the guys take the panels apart and bring them back out to the grinding dock.
Where Armando carves heart cut-outs and scallop trim around the doors & windows, while Aubrey finishes up grinding the floors smooth.

When the 1st panel is finished, the guys bring it over to the staining bay.

Each panel weighs about 80 lbs so teamwork is required.

One panel carved and ready for staining - 3 more panels to go!
Staining bay is already stuffed with parts from the Clubhouse, deck and bridge.

Rudi starts re-arranging the finished pieces to make room for the Princess Tower panels and parts.

Jose continues to work on the gable roof, getting it ready to move to the staining bay.

Meanwhile, back in the staining bay, Rudi is almost out of color. He'll take inventory and then start mixing a new batch of color from scratch.
Ember finishes up the under-belly of the 9' long bridge. Even the undersides have to look good.

Rudi mixes more color in the Color Works back room.
He starts with hand-mixing the old-fashion way,

Then moves the bucket onto Big Betty (our powerful, electric stain mixer). After mixing is completed, the bucket is weighed on the industrial scale.

Staining bay is definitely getting crowded by the end of day. More pieces are due over tomorrow.

Time to start final detailing soon.

Long Island Treehouse: Grand Slam!

2010-06-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Barbara received the following email comments from our Long Island Treehouse client:
A huge hit (Grand slam) my daughter Screamed and my son looked up in awe.

Couldn't get them out last night until dark then they got a little spooked and shut it down for the evening.

At first light they were in it again had snacks mid day and showed everyone who comes by.

Thanks for your hard work and attention to detail

Will talk later this week.

C

Makes us happy when our clients are happy!

Happy Fathers Day!

2010-06-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the great Dads in our Family:

Robert Butler (#7 of 8):
Dad to Isabel and Francesca, 2 teenage daughters!
Helps us build the really unusual tree houses and play structures.
Owner & operator of "Coyote Creek Studio" a fully operational recording studio in Sebastopol, CA. Robert records and manages local bands and loves to play in his own band.
Check out Coyote Creek Studio...
www.facebook.com/pages/CoyoteCreekStudio

Dennis Hustead:
Husband of Pat Butler (#1 of 8) and Dad to Melissa, Veronique, Gabrielle (our bookkeeper), Genevieve & Aubrey (our newest crew member).
Dennis & Pat own Hustead Canvas Creations in Norfolk, VA and make awesome commercial & residential awnings. They also make covers, curtains and roofs for our play structures, treehouses and theaters!
Check out Hustead Canvas Creations... www.husteadscanvascreations.com/

Bruce Light:
Husband of Ember Butler (#2 of 8) and acting Dad to Sean (expert treehouse builder), Lila (works part time in the office) & Tym.

The Brewster is king of the sports court!

Bradford Furlong:
Husband of Eileen Butler (#8 of 8 - the baby of the family) and father of 3 kids: Wesley, Madeline & Amelia (who are all going to college this September). Yowser!

Brad & Eileen are both attorneys. Their business, Furlong-Butler Attorneys is a general practice servicing clients in Northwest Washington... www.furlongbutler.com

AND HAPPY FATHERS DAYS TO ALL THE GREAT DADS
that have actively enjoyed their Barbara Butler tree house and/or play structure with their kids over the past 25 years!

Long Island Treehouse: Day 4 Install

2010-06-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

FINAL DAY on site!
Marco & Will spend the morning adding the play accessories:
pulley bucket, rock holds, drop leaf table & 2 drop benches, top secret wall safe, chalkboard, shelf & pegs set, and lots & lots of Long Island road signs!

Then break for yoga exercises on the lawn!

Meanwhile, Barbara's up in the Clubhouse putting the finishing touches to the interior...

The interior is bright and sunny (the walls are stained wild orange)
and loaded with play accessories:
Chalkboard
Shelf & pegs
Flags on hook
Shield (that slides
open to reveal secret
safe combination)
Top Secret Safe
Drop leaf table
& drop seats

And all the hand-carved & stained signs are attached to the walls...

Peek thru the door: the tree grows up thru the deck & partially hides the entrance...

The finished tree house blends into the the surroundings without a hint of the color explosion inside.

The tree house clubhouse from different views

Pulley bucket

Rung ladder to Clubhouse interior
Rock holds on the footing post

Dusk approaching - time to leave...

A few crew shots for the photo albums...

Walking away from another great job! Everyone feels lucky to be able to work on a tree house!

Will heads back to Brooklyn (our East Coast man)

Marco loads up the truck - on to the next job!

Long Island Treehouse: Day 3 Install

2010-06-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

Day 3 is when it all comes together! Follow the guys amazing progress through the day in this series of images:

It takes teamwork to get a clubhouse up in a tree. Today is when the magic really starts to happen: raising the walls, lifting the roof in place, adding the firepole, railings, etc.

By end of day it will look almost complete! It won't be - still a million details to make it strong & sturdy and ready for play. But look and see how cool Day 3 is...

Cutting floor boards around the tree...

Laying out the hand-carved signs that will be added once the treehouse is up...

Quick lunch break on site, usually a picnic in the grass...

Securing the first wall, then bringing the others in...

Raising each wall is a team effort...

Next the roof goes up in 2 pieces and slides into place..

Once the roof is on, it really starts to look like a treehouse!

Marco & Will as counter weights, securing the roof...

Dig the hole for the firepole...
and call home...

End of day, dusk coming in...

Back at the Shop...

2010-06-16T18:20:00.001-07:00

The crew continues to work on the Castle Play Structure:
Building the frame for the 2nd Tower
and carving the trims

Lunch on the dock!
Ember, another sister & artist/master staining, has come down from Sebastopol to help stain for a couple of days! This is a huge structure and we need everyone's help to make the deadline!

Staining

Setting the stained parts out to dry, baking in the sun out on the dock...

Long Island Treehouse: Day 2 Install

2010-06-16T17:45:00.001-07:00

The guys start out the day digging post holes.

adding knee braces...

breaking for watermelon (Jeff was hoping to keep it for himself)

Laying the deck boards and lifting the walls into place!

At dusk, head back in Will's "Fit" to the very cute little house rented for the week (better than a hotel!), right on the beach! Gather rocks, look for shells, enjoy the sunset and cook a good meal!

Long Island Treehouse: Day 1 Install

2010-06-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

INSTALLATION: Day 1

The first day on site for a treehouse installation is all about positioning the girder box followed by the deck frame up in the tree. Placing of the girder box dictates the fit of the treehouse and how well the rest of the installation will go!

The girder box (shadow gray) is made back in the shop from redwood 4x6s, grinded smooth, stained and bolted together with custom angle iron braces. Will is un-bolting one side of he girder box in order to fit it around the tree, while Marco is constructing "temporary braces" from the white wood.

Everyone loves that there is a hammock near by to lounge in during breaks!

The temporary braces (white wood) are built strong & sturdy. Like scaffolding, this is what the crew will walk on when positioning the girder box and deck frame.
First, the girder box is handed up and place around the tree, and then the 4th side is bolted back into place. The girder box now encircles the tree and rests on top of the temporary bracing. Then it is finagled into the best position, and adjusted until it is a perfect fit.

Next is the deck frame.

Marco removes one end of the deck frame and some blocking, then it is handed up over the girder box and slid into place around the tree. Once the larger deck frame is lined up over the girder box, the end piece is bolted back in place, completing the encircling of the tree.

Once both the girder box and deck frame are positioned, the deck frame is attached to the girder box. Then both pieces are re-finagled (adjusted, leveled, repositioned, re-leveled, etc.). Will, Marco and Jeff look very happy with the final results!

Tomorrow - more structural work: knee braces, post hole digging, blocking the inside of the girder box. As Barbara says, lots of bolting & blocking!

About Will Pratt, Builder/Installer

2010-06-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

Will Pratt: Expert Builder/Installer
Duties:
- Fabricates treehouses & play structures
- Travels to sites & participates in installations
- Keeps everyone amused with antics
About Will:
- 2nd youngest crew member
- Recently moved to Brooklyn, NY with his girlfriend
- but still signs on for East Coast Installations
- Plays Banjo / member of Jazz band
- Recycling advocate & Bike enthusiast

More about Will...

Will's the kind of guy that when he digs a giant post hole, he can't resist trying it on for fit...

He's interested in new ideas and likes to work on the challenging projects, like hanging these "winder steps" from the underside of a giant deck using rope covered cable.

And like all the guys, he loves testing out the Zip Line Rides - the faster the better. It's hard work and all fun when installing a treehouse on site!

Will and Marco take a break to admirer their handiwork and (in this case) enjoy watching the fun that the new kid "owners" are having on their first adventure through their treehouse.

The kids have to stay back during the installations and can only watch from a distance. It's a riot when they finally get the go ahead to play!

Jeff, Will and Marco on a prior installation - the same expert crew working with Barbara this week on the Long Island Treehouse.

Barbara promises to send pictures!

Castle Play Structure under construction

2010-06-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 14th

Colors are finalized! Here is Barbara's Artist Sketch with the final color palette. The only change requested is to make the pink more of a "Princess Pink" if at all possible.

Rudi starts off by staining the interior walls of the Clubhouse (Frog) followed by the Clubhouse front door and window shutters (Autumn).

Click on color swatches to see our 59 colors

In the Building Bay, Aubrey continues to grind more redwood, while Armando carves the trim lines around the doors and windows.

Jose, about to start adding redwood T&G siding to the Gable roof, first takes time to study the plans. Each of the guys has their own "book" of AutoCAD documents that they refer to each step of the way.

Meanwhile, Barbara, Jeff, Marco and Will have been on site in Southampton all day, unloading the truck, setting up camp and starting the layouts. Hope to bring you more news and images tomorrow. For now, they are headed to the house they rented for the week where they will make dinner and have a few beers!

Castle Play Structure under construction

2010-06-12T16:39:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 12:

Started the day with the Clubhouse framed, sided and the railing post anchored in the deck.

Marco, who has been cutting/shaping the elegant, curved knee braces, is pleased with his handiwork! Once the deck is up in the air, the knee braces will attach underneath (between the corner posts) providing additional strength & stability to the 10.5' x 10.5' deck.

Jose constructs the picket railings
around the Big Deck.

Aubrey and Andrew grind the corner footing posts for the the clubhouse and the 5x5 Fort. The corner posts run long into the ground (inserted into metal sleeves and secured in concrete) to provide the play structure with strength and stability.

End of day and the Clubhouse is already partially disassembled. Monday the crew will start on building the 5x5 Fort that anchors the other end of the 9' long bridge.

Barbara's Castle Play Structure is under construction

2010-06-12T16:06:00.001-07:00

Thursday, 6/10:

Started the day with Aubrey (newest team member) out on the dock grinding the redwood smooth on all sides. We grind the wood smooth so kids won't get splinters and round the corners so no sharp edges.

Every builder starts in the grinding position, learning how to get the wood to a "buttery smooth" complexion.

In the Building bay, Marco is constructing the upper Clubhouse and Deck, and stops to discuss details with Jeff.

The guys build from detailed AutoCAD plans that are created by James Butler (Barbara's brother) before any building can commence. James lives in Los Angeles and works out of his home office.

James, a licensed Contractor, often goes on the installations.

In the back of the Building bay, Jose is constructing the doors and shutters while Andrew is building the Gable roof frame.

Meanwhile, the Bridge railing has been completed and moved over to the Staining bay.

Rudi is taking inventory of our color stain supplies to determine what colors he will have to mix up for this big job.

Since the colors have not been finalized yet, it is still a guess. Barbara hopes to have colors finalized this coming weekend - install is scheduled for the week of June 28th and that's coming up fast!

Next Project already underway...

2010-06-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

New Castle Play Structure design:

Barbara's latest design started with traipsing through the woods to find the perfect spot for the play structure. Her goal is to find a spot close enough to the house to keep an eye on young kids (from the kitchen window or a porch) but not so close that it feels intrusive when they are older.

After brainstorming ideas with the client, collecting information about what play features to include, taking lots of photos & measurements, (and usually climbing a few trees), Barbara heads back to the shop where she sketches her ideas.

Next, Barbara and Jeff do a "stick-out" of the shape of the play structure (Jeff is standing on the bridge-over-swings). This lets everyone visualize how the structure will fit in the space and provides a chance to chance sizes (e.g., make the Clubhouse smaller and the deck bigger, etc.).

While on site, Barbara arranged the client's favorite stain color chips on a bench - the best way to look at the stain colors is in natural light.

Sometimes, the hardest part is choosing the colors! We make our own non-toxic stains at our shop and offer 59 colors to choose from. Color talk starts during the design process but is usually finalized after construction begins.

Once the design is finalized and the AutoCAD construction drawings are completed, we will started to build. More to come...

Long Island Treehouse: Design process

2010-06-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

In February, Barbara started the design process for this Long Island treehouse:

Her first step was to visit the site, meet with her client, brainstorm ideas and help select the tree. Then take lots of photos. Back at the shop, Barbara "painted" the treehouse design directly onto the digital image.

Once the design was finalized, Barbara created an Artist Sketch with colors for both the exterior and the interior.

Next: build, carve and stain the structure - weeks of work! Now, we are almost ready to deliver:

Building has been completed and the stain has been applied and dried - all that's left is to move the modular parts to our Detailing Bay where we pre-assemble the treehouse to ensure a perfect fit. The more we can pre-assembled before going to site, the smoother the process will be once we are there.

The guys pull up their racks filled with tools, materials and treehouse parts, then proceed to detail (e.g. assemble the walls and decking, add shutters, doors, rock holds, etc.). Because the clubhouse & deck will be supported by long knee braces attached to the tree (see Artist Sketch above), there are only a few footing posts on this project. The structure can sit on the floor while detailing commences.

Rudi, in the meantime, is adding the final touches to the Top Secret Safe door panel which is then installed on an interior Clubhouse wall.

The last to be added is the big Gable Roof. This treehouse was designed with a special "sliding" front door. Because the main trunk of the tree is so close to the clubhouse (breaking through the deck) the door slides open behind the tree.

Now we disassemble the Clubhouse, "blanket wrap" the big modular pieces, box up the small parts and load the truck. We also load up all tools and materials that will be needed from electric drills to scaffolding to concrete. Jeff will take off tomorrow, early morning, and drive the Treehouse, a Playhouse and a Fort to the East Coast. Barbara and crew will fly in on Sunday. Installations start on Monday!

More to come - Barbara is sure to send images from Southampton!

Pretty in Pink

2010-06-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

Barbara Butler's Country Cottage Playhouse

We are about to pack up this playhouse and send it off to NY (along with a treehouse that is going to Southampton). Jose is "detailing" which is the last step in the process: hanging the Dutch door and shutters, adding the trims, adding any play accessories and touching up any scratches. Once the playhouse is perfect, we take it apart, "blanket wrap" the big pieces (and box the small pieces) then load it into the truck.

Barbara hand-carves the flowers, fairies, dragonflies, butterflies, birds and fauna on all 4 sides of the playhouse. Then Rudi, our Master Stainer, applies the color:
Jeff (Barbara's husband) will be driving the truck across country this week, then Barbara and crew will fly in on Sunday. Installations start on Monday.

Barbara Butler's Robin Hoods Fort with 2 swings

2010-06-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Look what was just installed last week in Pasadena, CA: beautiful, luscious colors on Barbara's popular Robin Hood's Fort play structure (this one has a 9' long bridge over 2 swings and a Pyramid roof with stars):

Rocket Ship: Crew installing inside large warehouse!

2010-06-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Half-way through installation, the Rocket Ship is starting to look exactly like Barbara's artist sketch!

Bid on eBay for donated Magical Bridge Playhouse!

2010-05-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

If you have ever wanted to bid on a Barbara Butler playhouse, then this is your chance! You can now bid on eBay for The Magical Bridge Playhouse, donated by Barbara Butler Artist-Builder Inc.

100% of all proceeds from this sale go towards building The Magical Bridge Playground in Palo Alto, a playground for families of all abilities. The value of this playhouse is $12,180. This magical playhouse will be delivered & installed free of charge within a 30 mile radius of Palo Alto or San Francisco, CA (an additional $1,460 value). Outside of this area, the bidder is responsible for shipping and assembly costs.

Click here to see more about the playhouse, including specifications and dimensions.
Click here to bid on eBay!

Rocket Ship about to Launch

2010-05-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Barbara and crew have been working non-stop to make ready for the launch of the Rocket Ship play structure this Friday, May 14th. Countdown includes: finish painting, detailing, packing, loading the truck and driving to LA.

Building starts with the base floor.

These photos show part of what it takes to launch!

Grind all the wood smooth and carve around the cut-outs!

Marco built the Rocket roof frame, then attached the siding and cut-out the porthole windows.

Here's the view from the inside looking up...

The upper story of the rocket ship is almost built.

The Rocket roof has been sent to staining - Rudi (master stainer) climbs in to start the 1st coat on the underside.

It already looks like a space capsule.

Barbara helps out - all hands on deck to finish the staining!

Ember (another sister) comes down for the weekend to help stain!

and Daisy keep watch.

Adding color to the cut-outs makes a big difference.

April, Barbara's friend and artist, also showed up for the weekend to help get the job done.

Floors, bridges, walls, cut-outs, details, details, details.

fallen tree limbs to become a treehouse and play structure

2010-03-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I went to inventory a pile of cut tree limbs. The client wants us to use the pieces of two trees in creating a new play structure/play area. To get started we numbered, photoed,and measured each limb and trunk. And I sketched each limb too as part of getting to know it. Now I'm going to try to figure out how to use them best.

The cut pieces are from a giant ash tree that had to be cut down (not sure why - sick or inconvenient?)The pile as-is is pretty fun - Jeff and I had a great time scrambling around it. But those limbs are so heavy we will need to make sure if we construct a log pile that the logs are actually attached to the ones below so that no log could ever roll and hurt someone.

The long fallen tree is an oak tree that fell over in a rain storm and just missed the house. I'm thinking of using it much like it is seen here, as a bridge in the play area. I'll clean off a lot of the small branches and we'll have to get the landscape crew to haul it with their heavy equipment to the backyard.

I got very sleepy after the inventory. Lots of possibilities but high degree of difficulty...I am going to have to sleep on this one for a while. I'll keep you posted as to our progress.

My wonderful dog Roscoe

2010-02-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Sad news: my wonderful dog Roscoe died last week of cancer. Roscoe was the best dog! A real play professional: always friendly to dogs, children, adults; always ready to play; always happy to go to work with me. Roscoe will be missed very much!

Public Use Play Structure: Glendale Gardens

2010-02-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

We just got back from installing a public use play structure for an Affordable Housing Complex in Glendale, California. It was a new design , so it had to go through all the ASTM, CPSC and ADA certifications which it passed beautifully. The developer was Thomas Safran and Associates. They were wonderful to work with and I’m very pleased with the results.

Hillside Tree Forts: 4 tree forts plus a Zip Line Ride!

2009-03-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great time installing this tree fort on a steep yard in Santa Barbara. It's comprised of 4 different forts. 2 are connected by a bridge. it's made for lots of running around & climbing. Great zip line between the trees too!

Zip line without trees!

2007-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Check out our new zipline structure for folks without trees. Jeff and I have wanted to do this for a long time. Finally we got the chance to put our ideas to the test. It's working great!

The starting point needed to be pretty high. I thought staining it green would make it make it not stand out as much...I'm not sure that worked but the family didn't mind. Some people have commented that it looks like a guillotine...

We faced the metal posts with redwood - that took a lot longer than we thought it would.

The view of the ending doorway is hidden from the house by the small tree.

Rosefield Cottage

2007-01-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Hi all

Here are some photos from our new playhouse in Tiburon. I'm calling it Rosefield Cottage because my client loves roses. Soon the roses will be growing up a trellis that will cover the big I-Beams.

The outside is all carved and stained and the inside is all painted.

The playhouse is tucked under the deck of the main house, with a great view of the SF Bay. The playhouse barely fit between the I-Beams and under the deck and we had a hard time sliding the roof in place. I shouldn't cut it so close but of course I can't resist!

That's my sister Pat, visiting from Norfolk Virginia, enjoying the view.

Rosefield Cottage is completely waterproof and finished inside, with real doors & windows.
That's Suzanne sitting on the bottom bunk. She came and helped finish the touch-up on the last day.

Notice the drop-leaf table & benches against the wall.

My client found a great chandelier but we are still looking for the perfect sconces that are kid-friendly as well. Soon to be added are foam cushions for the bunk beds, a small area rug, curtains...

Road trip 3/1/06 to 3/8/06

2006-03-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

Washington DC 3/1 to 3/4: Jeff and I visit his folks, go to museums and I meet with a new client in Bethesda who wants a tree perch. They have a great big oak tree. We meet in the yard with the clients and their landscape architects for a great collaborative design session. We decide to attach a tree perch to the oak tree, then a bridge over swings to a Robin Hood's Fort. It's freezing cold but everyone ends up happy.

East Hampton, Long Island 3/4 to 3/6: We are off to the tip of Long Island for the sticking out process for our treehouse job.
Early Saturday morning we drop Jeff's Dad at National airport - Dick was flying off to sunny 80 degree Flordia. We drive to Baltimore Washington Airport to hop a Southwest puddle jumper to West Islip, L.I., where it was 30 degrees and windy.

We rent a car and drive immediately to a Home Depot. There's snow everywhere and we marvel at the icicles! We brought tools but we need to pick up a ladder and about (25) 2"x 2"x 8 foot long sticks of lumber. We cram the sticks into our rent-a-car and head off to site.

The job is right on the water, on the L.I. Sound, in East Hampton. It's a beautiful site with two tricky trees.

I've done a sketch on a photo of what I want to make and the clients have approved the idea and the pricing, so now it's time to make sure it will really work. And to get the precise measurements so I can build most of it back in the shop.

Jeff and I are bundled up pretty good but it's really cold and windy. We first do the layout on the ground, then we prop it up in the air at deck height - about 7' off the ground - and start looking at where the trees will pop through the decking.

Barbara and Jeff on site

2006-02-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

Jeff and me on site for the installation of #310

Look what I've started!

2006-02-28T07:48:00.000-08:00

Hello! I'm heading on the road again and I thought I'd keep you all posted on my adventures with a blog instead of those clunky emails. Not quite sure how all this works yet but I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go. Comments welcome.

Tomorrow I head out for a week on the road. First to DC with Jeff to see his parents and for me to meet a client. Then Saturday morning we fly to Islip, L.I. and then drive out to East Hampton to meet my treehouse clients. It's going to be only about 34 degrees! We're going to "stick out" the treehouse design in the two trees to finalize the design, then meet with the clients. We're staying out on the tip of L.I. in Montauk - sounded like a great idea until I heard the temperature...

Then Monday morning we head into NYC - Jeff's flying back to SF and I'll visit Debra Salomon to finish up our interior design collaboration for the two kids playrooms that we're doing. I'll be staying with Jeanette in her great apartment in Brooklyn. WE're going to try to take in some galleries on Tuesday.

Then Wednesday morning off to Cincinnati to meet with the folks from Murphy Catton. They are manufacturers of large scale museum displays and they want to start building some of our structures, using different materials and processes. I'm going in to meet with them, see their capabilities and see if there's a fit. check them out at http://www.murphycatton.com